LAKEPORT >> Ulysis Valencia scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of play, more than enough to lift the Clear Lake Cardinals to a 2-0 North Central League I boys soccer victory over the Cloverdale Eagles on Thursday in Lakeport.
Clear Lake finishes 5-7-1 in the league standings and 6-7-1 overall. The Cardinals will apply for an at-large berth in the North Coast Section Division I playoffs and they’ll find out on Sunday if they’re going.
“Half of my team hasn’t been out of the county until this year,” Clear Lake coach Shaun Hornby said. “Hopefully we get a trip to the Bay Area.”
Alexis Pizano and Kevin Chavez assisted on Valencia’s goals, which the Clear Lake defense made stand up.
In other boys soccer action Thursday:
Lower Lake 6, M’town 0
At Middletown, Gerardo Rodriguez finished with a hat trick as the Lower Lake Trojans shut out the Middletown Mustangs in the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
Lower Lake (8-3-1, 9-4-1) will advance to next week’s sectional playoffs. Coach Javier Michel said he thinks the Trojans finished either “first or second” in the league standings but was awaiting final confirmation from the Coastal Mountain Conference. Lower Lake had the best record among Lake County schools, but out-of-county schools such as Cloverdale, Fort Bragg, St. Helena and Willits do not report their scores to the Record-Bee.
According to MaxPreps, Fort Bragg has an 8-2-3 league record, which would give the Timberwolves the title if that record is accurate.
Octavio Perez, Gilberto Orozco and Jose Morales also scored for Lower Lake, which had a 3-0 halftime lead. Rodriguez scored his first goal in the first half and had the other two in the second half.
“I’m not going to say it was easy,” Michel said of the win over the Mustangs (1-9-2, 2-12-2). “We played pretty well.”
Michel and the Trojans will find out on Sunday where they’ve been seeded in the Division I field and who, when and where they’ll be playing in the opening round next week.
“I think they can do well,” Michel said when asked if the Trojans were capable of making a strong postseason push. “We’ll find out.”
